ISTANBUL — Turkish antiterror units arrested dozens of people in several cities early Tuesday as part of an intensifying crackdown against anti-government protests that have persisted for weeks.
The semiofficial Anatolian news agency said 84 people were arrested in the sweeps aimed at “members of terror organizations who destroyed public property, incited the public and attacked the police.” The names of the detainees, or the specific charges against them, were not released.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reacted with growing annoyance to the protests, which have given him his most serious domestic challenge in a decade and embarrassed him abroad. In recent days, Mr. Erdogan has seemed to rule out a compromise with a movement that started with protests against the planned destruction of an Istanbul park and that grew by tapping into broader complaints over what critics see as Mr. Erdogan’s authoritarian manner.
The sweeps on Tuesday came after days of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Turkish officials. On Monday, the interior minister, Muammer Guler, said that new regulations were being prepared to police social media outlets, aimed at people who use Twitter or Facebook, for “inciting people or coordinating and directing events that would cause social incidents or endanger material and physical public safety through manipulative, false news.”
Separately, the deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, raised the possibility that the military could be called in to help quell the unrest.
Mr. Arinc said the “innocent protests had ended” and that the continuing demonstrations were illegal. If the police were unable to contain the unrest, he said, the army could be called in, according to the Anatolian news agency.
The suggestion of any role for the military accentuates the challenge the protests pose to the government. It also highlights both the transformations in Turkey during Mr. Erdogan’s tenure and his opponents’ criticisms that he wields too much power.
The military, which carried out three coups over the past 50 years and forced another government from power, was once regarded as the primary obstacle to civilian rule in Turkey.
Mr. Erdogan blunted its influence with constitutional and institutional overhauls, and two years ago, its commanders resigned after a crackdown by the judiciary — solidifying the prime minister’s hold on the state’s institutions.
Mr. Arinc’s comments suggest that the government remained convinced of the military’s loyalty, but some protesters hope that soldiers can be swayed: When army vehicles were spotted in Istanbul during demonstrations last week, dozens of protesters who were trapped in a hotel by the police started chanting pro-military slogans, hoping the soldiers would intervene on their behalf, though they did not.
Mr. Erdogan on Monday offered his latest appraisal of the protest that have forced a public reckoning of his performance.
“Turkey’s democracy has been put to a very important test,” he said during a televised speech, adding that because of the country’s strong foundations, “neither our economy nor our democracy was hurt in these attacks.”
A poll released Monday suggested that Mr. Erdogan’s popularity had fallen. According to the poll, by the Metropoll Strategic and Social Research Center, based in Ankara, Mr. Erdogan’s approval rating dropped to 53.5 percent in June from 61 percent in April.
Monday brought more signs of a growing intolerance for protests. After days of violent clashes in Taksim Square, in Istanbul, a man stood for hours there on Monday in a silent vigil. A few other people joined him, until the authorities arrested several of the quiet protesters.
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